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Painting

Old Cab at All Saints, Manchester, Adolphe Valette (1876–1942), Manchester City Galleries

photo credit: Manchester City Galleries

Painting info

Title

Old Cab at All Saints, Manchester

Artist(s)

Adolphe Valette (1876–1942)

Collection

Manchester City Galleries

Date

1911

Medium and Support

oil on jute

Size

115.5 x 155.3 cm

Location

Manchester City Galleries

Acquisition method

purchased from the artist, 1928

Accession number

1928.34

Private loan

No

Description

A hazy autumnal scene of a hansom cab parked at the curb of Grosvenor Square (All Saints) on Oxford Road in Manchester. The view is from Oxford Road, looking west where a horse and cab dominate the centre of the composition. Seen in profile to the left: the white horse is fed from a nosebag as it rests with a blanket over its hindquarters, whilst the driver puts his feet up and smokes a pipe. A small group of figures have paused near the horse's head at the left of the scene, as other pedestrians pass by between the cab and the wall beyond, which is topped with iron railings. Behind the wall are the silhouetted forms of trees and further back still stand the hazy masses of buildings. To the left, the building with the domed roof was formerly the Registry Office and the building to the extreme right is the corner of All Saints Church, which used to be sited in the centre of the square, before it was bombed during the Second World War.